Ben
Affleck is Best Director; Daniel Day-Lewis takes home Best Actor;
Jessica Chastain wins Best Actress

Winners
announced for the first time on The CW

The
Broadcast Film Critics Association announced the winners of the 18th
annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards on Thursday. Hosted by KTLA
anchor Sam Rubin, the ceremony aired live on The CW for the first
time, from the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, with "Argo"
taking home the prize for Best
Picture,
and Ben
Affleck
winning the award for best director for the film.

Other
big winners of the night included: Daniel
Day-Lewis
winning the Best
Actor
trophy for his performance in "Lincoln," Jessica
Chastain awardedBest
Actress
for her role in "Zero Dark Thirty," Jennifer
Lawrence
receiving both Best
Actress in a Comedy
and Best
Actress in an Action Movie,
and Quvenzhane
Wallis
winning as Best
Young Actress
for her breakout performance in "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Writer-producer-directorJudd
Apatow
received the "Critics'
Choice Louis XIII Genius Award,"
presented to him by Rebel
Wilson.
The award was created to honor "an unprecedented demonstration of
excellence in the cinematic arts."

Movie
fans also voted for "Twilight"
as their favorite
film franchise,
in the first ever fan-voted award in the history of the Critics'
Choice Movie Awards. The other nominees included: "Batman,"
"Harry Potter," "Indiana Jones," James Bond/007, "Lord of
the Rings," "Spider-Man," "Star Trek," "Star Wars" and
"Toy Story."

The
Critics' Choice Movie Awards are bestowed annually by the BFCA to
honor the finest in cinematic achievement. The BFCA is the largest
film critics organization in the U.S. and Canada, representing more
than 270 television, radio and online critics. BFCA members are the
primary source of information for today's filmgoing public. Eligible
films were released in 2012.

Since
its inception in 1995, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards has been a
star-studded bellwether event of the movie awards season.
Historically, the Critics' Choice Movie Awards are the most
accurate predictor of the Academy Award nominations (28 of 34 of this
year's Academy Award nominees for Best Picture, Director, Actor,
Actress, Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress were also Critics'
Choice Movie Award nominees).

For
additional information about the BFCA and its membership, visit its
website at www.criticschoice.com.